Kharge plays delicate balancing act in CWC rejig before '24 polls

The reshuffle of the Congress working committee (CWC) on Sunday tried to maintain a delicate balance between different pressure groups and aspirations of important leaders ahead of the important polling season that culminates in the 2024 general elections.

- Saubhadra Chatterji

 

The first major organisational reshuffle under party chief Mallikarjun Kharge elevated a bunch of young and promising leaders, something that former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has frequently advocated, but also gave space to nearly all participants of the now-defunct G23 group, from Anand Sharma to Mukul Wasnik.

The party tried to accommodate leaders who have been otherwise not rewarded with official positions and also kept in mind regional sensitivities and Gandhi family loyalists. While the G23, or the 23 rebels, rocked the Congress organisation in August 2020 by demanding wholesale changes through a letter, the party had been trying to win over the majority of them. If the G23 leaders’ support for Kharge in the Congress presidential election was a sign of a thaw, the new working committee accommodated at least five top leaders of the erstwhile rebel camp.